"Meet the Future PLA Carrier Strike Group: Main..." Topic

… Equipment of the Chinese PLA Navy.

"Since World War II, the sine qua non of maritime power has been the carrier strike group, that assemblage of warships and other assets which together comprise the floating fortress that is the king of combat sea power. The Chinese People's Liberation Army–Navy (PLAN) is in the process of building its carrier strike group, although it currently only possesses one carrier still in the process of training aircraft operations. This article shows the current state of China's efforts by listing and describing key pieces of PLAN equipment.

Although great attention is still placed on the traditional strike group, we should keep in mind that it will be the realms of cyber, space, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that will do the most to shape any future war at sea. China has placed great emphasis on these areas.

It is tempting to ask whether PLAN might skip the carrier strike group entirely, moving directly into a UAV-heavy targeting model while eschewing the powerful but obsolescing task groups of various vessels. The answer for the foreseeable future is "no." China and its Navy still see the carrier group as being essential to great power status and are unlikely to abandon it…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Where to start…

Carriers/Naval Aviation: The Chinese are going to lose a LOT of pilots developing that skill set. I know they have a lot of bodies, but landing on a carrier is still the second most dangerous thing you can do at sea. (The most dangerous is underway refueling) While they can take lessons in carrier design from the US (where to put the elevators, etc), you still need to get a trained crew, and then have that crew teach the crew of the next ship, etc.

Escorts: They might be OK against air threats (not like they need to worry about Soviet-sized bomber assaults), but they're going to be hurting against submarines, which requires good gear and good operators. Also have the trained crew problem.

Submarines: Chinese quality control scares me. Submarines do not have much margin for error to begin with. Getting a competent crew means putting the ship to sea. Putting the ship to sea means running risks of stuff breaking. But of any of the branches, the PLAN submarine force could do the most damage against the US Navy.

Not saying that the Chinese will never catch up with the US, but that they have a long way to go to catch up. Especially on the submarine fleet and carriers.

On the training front, that is one reason why purchasing the first carrier made so much sense; it's a marginal carrier but a credible training platform. I agree they still have a LONG way to go though.

-Will

..don't you mean the Sino qua non???

In the event of a gut-bustin', mother-lovin' navy war, I'm sure there will be plenty of Chinese ships on the bottom of the ocean. American, too.

Much like the Falklands War, it may come as a surprise to some folks how easily ships are lost.

In the event of a gut-bustin', mother-lovin' navy war, I'm sure there will be plenty of Chinese ships on the bottom of the ocean. American, too.

Oh yea. The South China Sea will be the new Ironbottom sound.

-Will

When I was in the Navy, Carrier operations was considered the most dangerous job. Refueling at sea was rated #2. I have an article on this in my blog, link